Hi,
The other day I was watching the Discovery Channel about the future of aviation. I tell you they had some pretty wild ideas:
The cockpit of a future large commersial aircraft would have no windows, instead the land outside the plane would be re-generated in a virtual image in front of the pilots. Most future planes would have no pilot, instead a computer would have much safer and reliable control over the aircraft. Passengers would not have to worry about crashes, all future aircraft would carry a parachute on the fuselage that would make a falling plane touch down gently on the earth. A plane the size of a 747 would need a chute the size of three football fields! All controls on a future aircraft would be digitalized and automatic. The pilots (if any) would only need to turn it on and set the autopilot. All future planes will be supersonic or nearly so. A transatlantic flight in a future aircraft would take 4 hours with the aircraft reaching an altitude higher than the space shuttle for a moment. Passengers will not need windows.
What do you think? I hate these ideas. No need for pilots, ha! What if the sytem fails, you need manual backup! And the passengers would feel uneasy about a computer flying the plane. And no windows! Who wants to fly if they can't enjoy the view! A parachute for a 747-sized plane!
What do you think? These ideas seem too far-fetched. I like aviation the way it is!

I agree. I personally would feel much safer with two humans at the front of the plane. More advanced computer systems to HELP pilots is great, but I don't want it to get to the point where pilots would become dispensable. Also, a parachute for a 747 3 football fields long? Where would they fit it?? Also a parachute cannot GUARANTEE that a crippled plane will make it safely to the ground. The American Airlines 757 crash in Cali, Columbia wouldn't have been spared by a parachute, it crashed into a mountain. I seriously doubt it could have helped any of the passengers aboard TWA flight 800. NO NEED FOR WINDOWS!?! Who thought that up?! And you have to at least have SOME real visual terain ahead of you. A re-generated virtual image of the ground could work on seperate screen, that could have possibly prevented the Cali crash. Most of these ideas I do not like either.

I have to agree with you too, in any case this technology is 200 years away when we have perfectioned several systems including one that would enable us to rely on a computer to land and take off a plane without the need of pilots. However I think Pilots will always be needed no matter how advance the plane is..there is always the psycological factor in the passenger's mind and knowing that there isn't a qulaified human being just in case, is a very scary thought,
Benito Camelas